


JENNY

by provocation



Category: Until Dawn (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, Fix-It of Sorts, Pre-Canon, until dawn gift exchange 2018
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-07
Updated: 2018-07-07
Packaged: 2019-06-06 15:58:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,576
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15198254
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/provocation/pseuds/provocation
Summary: Jenny, darling, you're my best friend, but there's a few things that you don't know of.Why I borrow your lipstick so often, I'm using your shirt as a pillow case.I wanna ruin our friendship, we should be lovers insteadI don't know how to say this 'cause you're really my dearest friend...A quick pre-canon fix-it about Jess being too gay to function and the prank going awry.





	JENNY

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lesbianwritingcorner](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lesbianwritingcorner/gifts).



> This was written for [Ryae](http://oryaegano.tumblr.com) for the July 2018 exchange on Tumblr! I had a lot of fun writing it and hopefully you have a lot of fun reading it. There's a playlist on Spotify for inspiration/mood that can be found [here](http://montparnasse.tumblr.com/post/175633886532/here-is-my-contribution-to-the). Please enjoy!

It all starts because Jessica Riley has the memory of a goldfish.

Maybe it actually starts months before that, when Jessica’s other half Emily Davis starts fooling around with the prettiest fool around, Michael Munroe. Jess doesn’t blame Emily for spending less time with her in favour of Hot Popular Kind-Of-Mean Mike, but it creates a rift between the girls that neither is willing to acknowledge. Their sleepovers become unbearably awkward as Emily spends hours trying to think of cute boys in school to set Jess up with, and Jess spends hours trying to think of ways to get Emily to take her shirt off. Even though Emily would deny it with a gun to her head, their dynamic is irrevocably morphed because of Mike, and neither of them know how to unfuck their relationship.

As it turns out, neither of them need to do much planning to unfuck anything, as fate can have a funny way of fixing its own mistakes. So it starts in crisp, sweet February, when icicles still hang from the pine trees on Blackwood Mountain and the local grizzlies are just starting to break free of their winter torpor. The laughter and warmth of ten young teenagers all figuring themselves out is enough to shelter the group from the cold, but not enough to protect them from the wind whipping through the trees.

Distracted from her friends, Jessica falls a few steps behind as she rifles through her luggage. “God damn it,” she mutters to the trees and the birds— because hey, if you can’t desecrate the name of the Lord in the middle of the Rockies, where the hell can you? “I think I forgot my chapstick at home.”

Her lips are hardly dry yet, but while the rest of the group continues their trek to the cable car station, Emily hears her. Jess thinks she could talk to herself in the middle of a tornado on Mars and Emily would still hear her. “You have the memory of a goldfish,” Emily tells Jess, already searching through her own pockets. “You would lose your head if it wasn’t attached to the rest of your body. Here.”

The last word is accompanied by a flying tube which Jess barely catches. It is not, in fact, a lip balm of any sort, but a lip gloss. Jess uncaps it and something inside her stomach trembles.

Emily has already turned back to the group, eager to dissolve any potential bonding between Hannah and Mike, and Jess stays where she is for a moment, spreading the gloss over her lips and smacking them together. She thinks about how many times she’s seen Emily put this on, and smacks her lips again, and just like that everything changes.

 

 

Emily doesn’t talk to her again until they’re in the cable car. Ten is a lot of people to bring on a private cottage trip; if they were in a horror movie, at least one or two of them would have to die just so the audience could keep track of who was who. Jess spends the rest of her walk licking her lips absent-mindedly between talking to Ashley and talking to Beth, and time passes normally until five of them have all squeezed into one cable car and Emily’s leg is pressed up against hers.

The car keeps moving diagonally up its line, and the conversation continues, but Jessica’s entire worldview has narrowed to the junction of Emily’s leg and her own. Her mouth feels dry and weird and she can’t quite focus on what anyone’s saying, only wanting to lean more and more into Emily’s space until they can eclipse each other.

“I’m so excited,” Emily confides in her, and Jess nods without comprehending what her friend means. “I can’t wait for her to get what she deserves.”

“Me either,” Jess giggles back. Her? She? Jess doesn’t have a single clue what Emily’s talking about, but her hair looks so good pulled into a ponytail so it doesn’t matter. “She totally deserves it.”

“Yeah,” Emily breathes, and then turns to Mike. Time and the earth return to their normal speeds, and Jess is instantly bored. “She needs to learn to keep her paws off my man.”

“Hey, I’m my own man,” Mike says, crossing his arms in defiance. It’s a strange reaction; on the other side of the cable car Matt and Ashley exchange a conspiratorial look. Mike must see fury in Emily’s eyes because he slides a hand around her shoulders, leaving his fingers dangling over Jessica’s shoulder. Something about that feels illicit and exciting too, but Jess feels more jealous than anything else. “Don’t discount my autonomy, baby.” Jess is surprised he even knows the word autonomy.

“I’m surprised you even know the word autonomy,” Emily says, causing an offended gasp from Mike and a delighted smile from Jess. Emily glances over at her and the fire from before is back, searing across her limbs down to her fingertips and toes. “For real though, tonight is going to be so much fun. We’re gonna show Hannah exactly what’s up.”

“Totally,” Jess breathes. She thinks she would agree to planetary extinction if only Emily keeps looking at her the way she is now.

Emily must sense part of Jessica’s complete distraction because her eyes narrow. “And you came up with a really good prank, right?”

“Sure,” Jess says. She winks for good measure, and before Emily can interrogate her further their cable car swings to a stop. Sam, Chris, and the three Washingtons are all waiting patiently by the station, and Jess is the first to climb out of the car and run to meet them.

 

 

Emily doesn’t bring it up for forty minutes, which shows great restraint on her part. She corners Jess as they’re deciding who gets what room. What should be a civil discussion is, of course, a heated political debate, and when everyone is distracted by Sam yelling (possibly for the first time in her life) about proximity to the bathroom, Emily takes the opportunity to drag Jess away.

“You want to sleep together?” are the first words out of Jessica’s mouth, which reveals less about her confidence and more about her brain-to-mouth filter. “Here, I mean? In this room.”

Emily looks dumbly at the only bed, caught off-guard by the bold question. “Yes,” she starts, and then reconsiders, “well, I mean, I’ll probably sleep with Mike.”

“Yeah,” Jess lies through her teeth. “That’s what I meant, like… do you want this room for you and Mike, like, do you want to sleep together here?”

“Oh. I guess.” Emily brushes off the question, eyes dark with intent. “I wanted to ask you about the prank.”

Right. The prank. Like many of her assignments, Jessica had forgotten about the prank until the last possible second, and then not put much work into it even after the last possible second. She sees the appeal of embarrassing Hannah to get back at her for making moves on Mike, but she doesn’t really know why it has to be traumatizing. Jess would prefer something stupid like hiding Hannah’s clothes after she showers, or pantsing her when she’s not expecting it, or putting her bra in the freezer or something. Emily, on the other hand, is a Scorpio sun and moon and rising, so of course her plans fall more along the lines of “make Hannah rue the day she ever caught feelings for Michael Munroe”. After the third strategy session where Jess had shot down Emily’s ideas because they were less _ Mean Girls  _ and more _ Saw II _ , Emily had handed control of the entire project over to Jess, who had proceeded to instantly forget about it.

“Right. The prank,” Jess says, brushing her hair behind her ears. She is nothing if not a stellar actress.

“So, like, what do you have planned?” Emily mirrors Jess’ movement, shifting from foot to foot in eager anticipation. “Mike is so down to help out. He said he’d basically do whatever.”

“It’s gonna be really good,” Jess assures Emily, hoping she won’t break the promise. “Hannah won’t know what hit her.” Something about Emily’s words spark an idea and Jess blurts out without warning, “Oh! Mike and Hannah are going to hook up.”

“ _ What _ ?!”

“No, I mean, we can make it look like they’re— we can trick Hannah into thinking they’re alone, and then right when she’s about to kiss him we can all jump out and embarrass her.” It’s beyond mean, but Jess doesn’t much care; her only focus is on the light behind Emily’s eyes. “Wouldn’t that be cool?”

“Josh and his dad have all their camera stuff lying around,” Emily nods, already invested. “We could film it.”

“But wait,” Jess says, already distracted by another, much better idea. “Would Mike really be up for messing around with Hannah like that? We could—”

“Like I said, Mike’s down for whatever,” Emily dismisses it with a wave of her hand.

The plan grows and grows in Jessica’s mind until she realizes how wide she’s smiling, and has to force herself to tone it down. She is going to make this work— for Emily.

 

 

_ HANNAH. _

_ You look so damn hot in that shirt… but I bet you’re even hotter out of it. _

_ Come to the guest room at 2:00am ;-) _

_ Mike _

_ Xxx _

Jess stares blankly at Chris, whose role in the Last Minute Prank is to give Josh enough alcohol poisoning that he won’t wander the cabin and walk in on his sister’s comeuppance. Sam was given the same task for Beth but nobody can find either of them, so Jess is choosing to focus on the variables she knows are under control. The variable in front of her is halfway through a mickey of Jager, glassy-eyed and flushed.

“You’re going to make this work, right,” she says, scratching out SHIRT in favour of PANTS. Her tongue darts out to taste her lip gloss involuntarily. “You got this.”

“I got this,” Chris tells Jess, saluting her with the bottle.

_ Xxx _ gets replaced by  _ Xoxo _ , and then followed by  _ Gossip Girl _ , and then Jess crumples up the entire note and tosses it away. She begins drafting a new one. “Josh can’t know what’s going on.”

“Right,” Chris slurs. “Because Josh’s in love with Mike.”

“No,  _ Hannah _ is in love with Mike,” Jess jabs the pen in Chris’ direction in-between  _ the guest _ and  _ room _ . “And Beth can’t know either. Emily really needs this to go well.”

“We have too many friends,” Chris mumbles, slumping forwards. He looks overheated in his five sweaters but Jess knows him too well to suggest he take a layer off. Josh stumbles back from the bathroom at the perfect time to catch the end of Chris’ thought: “If this’s a horror movie some’f us have to die.”

Jess blinks. “That’s  _ exactly _ what I was just thinking.”

 

 

Late in the evening, everything is going according to plan. Matt and Ashley are playing video games together like they do at every given opportunity, and Chris and Josh are already hundreds of rounds into a two-person game of Never Have I Ever. There’s only one thing left to do, which is to ensure that Hannah will actually find the note. Jess has searched every room in the lodge, stumbling across Hannah’s unfortunate shrine to Mike in the process. She finally spies a silhouette outside the living room window that scares the shit out of her, and after catching her breath she heads out to meet Hannah.

The lodge is only warmed by its ancient generator and modest fireplace, but outside is still infinitely colder. Every breath she takes is white against the crisp February air. Hannah is bundled up in a pile of blankets and coats that rivals Chris’ outfit, but the tips of her ears and her nose are pink from the cold. The cup in her hands is steaming, and Jess makes a big show of shining her phone flashlight on the mug. “There better not be any alcohol in there, young lady.”

Hannah laughs at the sternness in her voice. “It’s not like you’re 21 either!” She lifts the mug for Jessica’s appraisal. “It’s hot chocolate.”

Jess takes a seat on the bench beside her and steals a sip; it’s not hot enough to burn her tongue but it’s close. “Can I ask why you’re hiding out here?”

“I’m just taking a breather,” Hannah gives her a nervous but grateful smile. “Sometimes big parties like this can be really bad for my anxiety, so… yeah. And I don’t mind the cold too much; it’s nice to sit still and be quiet.”

Jess hands the mug back and Hannah doesn’t say anything more, so they both try it out— neither girl breathes or speaks or moves. No new snow is falling on Blackwood Mountain but they’re close enough to the peak that it’s freezing anyway. Something about the silent night is calming, and Jess allows herself the moment to just exist.

Almost immediately afterwards she’s overwhelmed with guilt, and she just feels worse and worse. Right when she’s at her breaking point she balls up her hands into fists, and she’s on the verge of telling Hannah everything when Hannah interrupts her train of thought. “Can I ask what  _ you’re _ doing out here?”

“Emily found out that Mike wants to hook up with you,” Jess blurts out. The blissful peace between them shatters. “She asked him about it because she thought you had a thing for him and he said he’d be DTF.”

“Oh no,” Hannah whispers, expression stressed with worry. “Is she mad?”

The guilt that she’d dismissed so easily earlier while writing the note comes back to hit her in full force. Jess doesn’t think she has the guts to break Hannah’s heart and tell her the truth, and now that she’s already started lying it’s really,  _ really _ hard to stop. “No,” she lies, “not at you. She’s mad at Mike.” Lie. “So we set up this thing for tonight— it’s stupid, but I think it would mean a lot to Emily if you played along.”

“Played along?”

“With the plan we’re setting up. We’re all going to hide in the guest room tonight and we’re going to play a prank,” Jess breathes quickly, “on Mike.”

“Oh,” Hannah takes another sip of her hot chocolate. She’s a lot less upset than Jess expected. “What would I have to do?”

 

 

The set-up is perfect; the bait is standing by the door. The trap has been laid and everyone is in their hiding places. Matt and Ashley have been giggling in the closet for the last ten minutes while trying to figure out how to work Josh’s favourite camera, but they finally get the message when Emily lets out a hiss that is more snake than woman. Jess only has a clear view of Mike’s feet which keep shuffling around in nervous anticipation. She’s tempted to reach out and pants him, but before she can enact any new pranks, the door opens.

Emily tenses beside her and Jess wonders if it was a good idea to hide under the bed with her. Ash and Matt have the clearest vantage point, and if she’d hid in the closet then maybe she wouldn’t be so distracted by how close she is to Em. She can’t take her eyes off of her; even in shadow like this, Emily is gorgeous. She’s the prettiest girl on earth, and the excited look on her face is going to be immortalized in Jessica’s memory forever.

The light from Hannah’s candle illuminates Mike’s face, and Jess doesn’t have to look to know the twin is smiling. “Mike? It’s Hannah,” she announces her arrival, loud enough it’ll show up on camera.

Mike gulps. “Hi, Hannah.”

“I got your note,” Hannah purrs. “I think it’s really sweet.”

“I think you’re really sweet,” Mike gulps. “Glad you could make it. Maybe we could start with a little, you know, making out? And see where it goes from there?”

“Sounds good to me,” Hannah says. Her feet don’t move.

“Uh,” Mike starts, and then he starts fumbling with his shirt. The romantic rhythm of the scene falters as Mike struggles with his Henley. “Could you give me a hand, babe?”

Silence, and Emily’s harsh breathing, are the only things to be heard. Jess swivels her head to look at her friend right as Hannah interrupts, “A-Are you sure? I wouldn’t want Emily to get mad.”

“What?” Mike laughs as he tosses his shirt away, stepping towards Hannah. “Why would Emily care? She doesn’t own me.”

“Mike— I’m sorry, I can’t— Stop filming, guys,” Hannah begs Matt and Ashley, who both react with loud confusion. Emily’s eyes are wide. “I’m sorry, Mike— it was a prank!”

Again, Mike sputters, “What?!”

“I was supposed to come up here and trick you into cheating on Emily, but I can’t do it,” Hannah babbles. Jessica’s heart is racing a mile a minute, and Emily’s hands are tight where they’ve balled up around her hoodie. She thinks Emily might actually rip her head off. “I lo— I like you but I would never ruin someone’s relationship like that. You’re a great guy and it’s really flattering that you have a thing for me—”

“ _ What?! _ ”

“But I can’t,” Hannah says, stepping back. “I’m sorry.”

And with that she’s gone, running out of the room and down the stairs. After a moment of total confusion Mike follows her, no doubt to explain what went wrong. Ashley comes out of hiding, scratching her head, and Matt follows. “What the fuck happened?”

“I’m sorry,” Jess says, and it isn’t a proper response but she isn’t thinking about Matt anyway, her attention entirely on Emily. “Are you okay?”

Emily is still smoldering. There are probably going to be permanent wrinkles in Jessica’s sweater. “Why?” she demands, voice icy.

“I couldn’t do it,” Jess apologizes again. “I didn’t want to upset Hannah that much but I knew if I didn’t it would upset you, so I compromised. But it’s okay, right? Because you found out she wouldn’t actually sleep with Mike, so—”

“No,” Emily hisses. She pulls Jess closer, not that there’s much closer to be pulled. Her knee bumps against Emily’s thigh. “Why do you keep doing this?”

Her mouth is already dry but Jess swallows hard anyway. “Doing what?”

“You don’t listen to a word I say,” Emily begins. That seems rather unfair and untrue, since Jess hangs off pretty much every word she says. “You just think you know what’s best for me, better than anyone else. And you always try to get rid of every boyfriend I have.”

“No—”

“And you always,  _ always _ watch me,” Emily continues. Her eyes are so dark, pupils stretched out to the maximum. “You’re always keeping track of what I’m doing, and you stare at me so hard I get worried you’re building a robot clone of me. Why? Why do all that watching, instead of just making a fucking move?”

“Making a—”

“We’ve been friends for so long,” Emily’s voice has fallen to a low, angry mutter. “Stop keeping secrets from me and just make the move.”

Jess blinks once, twice, three times, and then obeys Emily. It’s much less dramatic than she imagined in all her dreams; she moves closer until she can bump her lips against Emily’s warm mouth, still too terrified of rejection to enjoy it properly. But then, Emily’s lips shift against hers and it starts to sink in that she is  _ kissing Emily Davis _ , and Jess just melts.

She presses closer and Emily does too, kissing like they’ve practiced for years, like it’s what their lips were made to do. They both reach for each other at once which causes their hands to meet, and Jess can’t help but smile into the kiss. After a nerve-wracking second Emily smiles back, laughing through her nose and then pulling away to smile fully. “I can’t believe you,” Emily murmurs. “You probably had this planned for months.”

“Not months,” Jess chooses to say, and then leans in to kiss Emily again. But before she can they’re interrupted by footsteps from beside the bed that make both of them tense up, and then Ashley knocks on the wooden bedframe.

“Hey, should I stop filming now..?”

“ _ God _ ,” Emily screeches, and pulls herself away from Jess only to roll out from under the bed. “Yes,  _ obviously _ stop filming us, Brown! And don’t share that footage with anyone!”

Jess follows suit, not bothering to make herself look presentable before climbing back into the light. Matt flashes her a thumbs-up and she beams at him, grinning wide and shameless. “Email it to me, Ash.”

Under the bed lies the forgotten lip gloss, having fallen out of Jessica’s pocket. When the cabin trip wraps up two days from now, Jess will swear to Emily that she checked everywhere and even enlisted Hannah to search with her. No one will ever find its hiding spot, not for years and years. Thankfully, Emily has other lip glosses she continues to lend Jess, and they get more and more creative at applying it. If Jessica Riley didn’t have the memory of a goldfish, none of this might have happened in the first place; but no matter what events may have taken place, some people are destined to always find their way back to one another.


End file.
